10 Reasons why Hayashimizu Atsunobu is Gay
by pinoykengumi7
Summary: Secretary of the Student Body, Mikihara Ren, has always been seen as the right hand of the president. But who really knows what goes through her head about Hayashimizu Atsunobu... [Hayashimizu x Ren]
1. Hayashimizu, attracted to males?

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Full Metal Panic or its characters.

**Title: **10 Reasons why Hayashimizu Atsunobu is Gay

**Rating: **K+

**Pairing: **Hayashimizu Atsunobu x Ren Mikihara

**Genre**: Humor/Romance

**Summary: **Secretary of the Student Body, Mikihara Ren has always been seen as the right hand of the president. But who really knows what goes through her purple head about Hayashimizu Atsunobu.

* * *

** Chapter I – Hayashimizu, Attracted to Males?**

—

_10 reasons why Hayashimizu Atsunobu is gay._

_1. His comments_

A hand finished printing the words on a white sheet of lined paper with a flourish. After a pause, the pen made contact with the paper again. When the hand was lifted, it now read,

_1. His comments about males._

A purple strand of hair gracefully fell onto the white pages of the book.

—

The calm and composed Mikihara Ren stood quietly with a ghost of a smile across her lips, observing the president of the student council chat with Chidori Kaname and Sagara Sousuke. She shifted her purple head slightly, to gain a better view of the boisterous vice-president, arguing spiritedly with her senpai.

"I don't want to train the rugby club again! Not after what happened last time." The girl shot a murderous glare at the boy adjacent her, her eyebrow twitching dangerously.

"It's not the rugby club this time. They are doing exceptionally well. Apparently it is the boxing club is what needs attention."

"So now Sousuke has become the trainer of all physical sports?" A snort was heard. "The rugby club barely made it out alive."

The stoic figure seemed unruffled from the girl's remark, or the scene before him. "It seems that the principal was pleased with the outcome of the rugby team, and wants the boxing club to improve."

"Hold on! You haven't even asked Sousuke about this," Chidori scowled, yet inwardly commending herself on thinking up such a plausible excuse. Goodness knew that her main concern was not to do with whether the Mithril sergeant was willing to participate or not.

"Sagara-kun."

"Affirmative, student president." The brunette met the unnerving eye of the white-haired boy. He nodded in confirmation.

"B-but—" Chidori's self-praise had abruptly been brought to a halt. She felt the beads of sweat rolling down her face. What was with the clubs in her school?! First, a rugby club with players that were scared of the tiniest _rocks_ and _spiders_ that reformed to become killing machines_, _and now a boxing club with who knows _what_ problems. A vein bulged precariously on her forehead and she could feel her fingers itching for her paper fan.

"The Tama Area High School Student Body Communication Meeting is still ongoing. It is a very boring meeting. If you wish to take my place as speaker, you shall be exempted."

He had used that excuse with the rugby club scenario more than a fortnight ago and she had declined then. Though she wasn't really sure if she could endure another club being trained by Sousuke. "I understand." Incessant, though incoherent, grumbles were heard. "Geez."

"I have already informed the boxing club that you are coming." He stood up. "Chidori-kun, you shall be their manager, and Sagara-kun, their trainer." He 'fwapped' his Japanese fan open to reveal the kanji for 'literature'. "I expect good results from this." The purple-haired girl watched her classmates leave the room, the louder muttering about ungrateful upperclassmen.

"Senpai, are you sure it's okay for Sagara-kun to train the boxing team?"

"Yes."

"But they may become viciously…" she searched for the correct word. "Viciously inclined towards violence." She cringed vaguely, remembering the look in the youths eyes when they had defeated Garasuyama High in the practice match. Though she was used to seeing violence, her father being boss of the famous and domineering yakuza, she was still concerned.

"Mikihara-kun. Sagara-kun is a fine trainer. Even though his methods are not always correct, his loyalty and concentration enable him to focus on his job. He will be fine." Words of praise left his mouth, which Ren duly noticed were somewhat shapely. "These are boys who are to be brought up as strong men. Each needs to know how to stand up in the real world." He paused, as if pondering his next words. "A man has his pride and needs to nurture it in order to gain a strong spirit. Physical training also helps in raising ones self-confidence."

He walked over to the window and gestured towards a freshmen class in physical education. "See the shimmer of sweat on that boy's brow? The finely toned biceps?" Without waiting for an answer, he continued. "That is a sign of perseverance and implement by the boy." His silver eyes roamed the class, looking for more examples to give his secretary. He went on to describe the boys, no _men_; he called them, in the rugby club. "Now look at those in the rugby club. Take Takeshi Syuuichirou. He has attitude. Not to mention he has muscles. Have you ever taken a look at his bulging biceps?"

The purple-haired secretary just smiled as the president's voice began to fade, and began to wonder whether the person she admired most in her life was sexually interested in the male specimen, or put plainly, if Hayashimizu Atsunobu was gay.

**End Chapter**

—

_Senpai_ - A higher class person or someone with more life experience

Thanks all for reading up to here. I know it is short, but I am planning to lengthen my chapters in the future. Thanks to **Multiple Cyrosis** for suggesting the idea of this fanfic to me.

I'm from Australia, which means that I use British English, so deal with it.

Reviews are appreciated,

--Duckii Mustang

—

Next Chapter: He Plans his Toilet Breaks?


	2. He plans his toilet breaks!

**Chapter II – He plans his toilet breaks?!**

—

A barely audible sigh escaped Ren's lips. She looked down at her journal page. The only words visible were from the day before; stating her first reason of why she thought the president of the Student Representative Council was gay.

_His comments about males_, it read. Now she had another reason, but wasn't quite sure how to put it in to words. She drew a little flower on the side of the page; irritated she could not find the correct words to express herself on paper. After a long period of time and many more flowers, the page now had an additional sentence added.

_2. He's so organised he plans his toilet breaks._

—

They had been working on an enormous pile of sheets for almost over an hour. She risked a sidelong glance at her upperclassman only to see him flick through his diary and then look at this wristwatch.

"It is half past 10. Mikihara-kun, please watch over the room for me. I shall just be taking a bathroom break." He abruptly stood up and strode out of the room with a confident air around him. His uniform was spotless –a stark white- and the creases from the iron were visible on his pants. Her eyes softened as he briefly turned around and gave her _a look._ She sighed and walked over to his desk, picking up his personal diary. Aloud, she read his schedule for the day. There were normal things like meditation, breakfast, school classes, but toilet breaks? She lifted one eyebrow critically.

"10:30 – 10:35; toilet break."

"Mikihara-kun?" The stoic leader walked in. He had barely taken a step into the room when the purple haired girl bowed apologetically.

"I'm so sorry senpai! I didn't mean to look into your personal diary—" He put his hand up.

"It's okay." She gave a sigh of relief.

"B-but senpai," she started then paused, unsure if she should continue.

"Yes?" His eyes never left the paper he was writing on.

"Why do you plan your toilet breaks?"

"Isn't it nice to be organised?"

"Of course, but you have an _obsession_ with it." She gestured at his desk. "Look at this – neat. Everything has its own place, and even your drawers are organised. Look at your clothes – you can see the creases made by the iron and you _always_ wear your jacket with it zipped up to the highest it can go." She glared at the offending jacket, totally oblivious to the amused look that was written on the youth's face. She looked around for more evidence to support her argument. Flowers, butterfly mobiles and… her eyes fell across the curtains that adorned the windows. "These curtains," she pulled on them lightly for emphasis, "Pink. Pink curtains. The fact that there are curtains in here is tidy, but also certainly _feminine._" Hayashimizu just smiled at her and pushed his glasses up, enjoying the sight of her frustrated.

And inside, Mikihara Ren wondered again whether the person she admired most was gay. After all, he did have the feminine streak running through him. A small smile graced her lips as she saw the president pull out a white handkerchief with lacy edges to blow his aristocratic nose.

**End Chapter**

—

Reviews are appreciated,

--Duckii Mustang

Next Chapter: Mirror, mirror on the wall


	3. Mirror, mirror on the Wall

**Chapter III – Mirror, mirror on the wall**

—

_Dear Diary,_

Those words were immediately crossed out. It appeared the writer was not fond of that greeting.

_Today I went to Hayashimizu-senpai's__ house. _

The daughter of the Yakuza boss flipped a few pages bag. There was a small list, titled _10 Reasons why Hayashimizu Atsunobu is Gay._ It had started off as a joke, but now Ren was finding more and more reasons to support her argument. Even though some of them were just little things, she believed the old saying: even little things count.

_3. He has a 3-Door Mirror Wardrobe._

She paused and lifted her pen up from the page. Then next to the most recent entry she wrote,

_He's obviously vain._

A pale hand covered the pretty mouth that was threatening to release a giggle.

—

The sound of a wheeled chair moving along the tiled floor in the student council room was predominant. Hayashimizu would never admit it, but Ren knew that her upperclassman immensely enjoyed sliding across the room. Not in the same way as younger children did, but he certainly took the liberty to use the chair to get to cabinets from his desk. Halfway across the room he stopped.

"Mikihara-kun, would you come to my house this afternoon?" The words made her embarrassed, up to the point where she felt her face heat up. But it was a nice sort of embarrassed, one that made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. "I have some work there which I need you to take account of as secretary of the Student Representative Council." Well, he just popped _her _bubble. But she pasted a smile on her face anyway and accepted, despite not knowing exactly why she felt angry with him.

—

As she sat inside his car, she reverently admired the intricate design and instruments. Her senpai finally got into the car.

They sat in silence until Mikihara spoke. "Eh, aren't we going?" She turned… to see Hayashimizu patting his perfect white hair in the mirror.

"Yes, we shall leave now." He ran his hand through his sleek tresses before he started to drive. Not long after, the car came to a stop at the top of a hill outside a large old-fashioned English house.

Her first step into the house induced a series of incidents. A flurry of brown and blue streaked across the room and halted in front of the pair.

"Oi, Nii-chan, who's this pretty girl with you?" Hayashimizu had his arms out as if he was going to embrace her, but as soon as she said, "It's about time you got a girlfriend, you old bachelor," he quickly drew them back to him, coughing. "Or don't you swing that way, eh, Nii-chan?" Her wavy brown hair bounced as she threw her head back and laughed.

Hayashimizu emitted another clearing-of-the-throat noise before introducing the girls to each other with a voice meant to regain his dignity.

"Meiko-chan, this is Mikihara Ren, secretary of the Student Body." He advertently blocked out the snickers from his little sister. "Mikihara-kun, my little sister, Meiko."

"Hello, Meiko-chan."

"Hi Ren-nee-san! Say, don't you think Nii-san's a bit of a prude? He hasn't gotten a girlfriend yet. Do you like Nii-san?" Her chestnut eyes gazed up at Ren expectantly.

The purple-haired girl, on the other hand, was taken aback. In what her senpai lacked vocally, his little sister made up for it. Though in looks, Meiko was pretty, but Hayashimizu certainly topped the scale - pretty _or_ handsome. She felt the heat rising in her face. Too bad the younger girl noticed the faint change in colour.

"Ah, Nee-san is blushing! You do like him!" She declared defiantly. Lucky for Ren, Hayashimizu came to her aid. Or so it seemed at that time.

"Now Meiko-chan, stop teasing Mikihara-kun. We need to do some work for school." In return he got a mischievous knowing look from the younger Hayashimizu.

"Sure. I'll just leave you two to your room, _Onii-san,_" she grinned, emphasising the formalities. The older Hayashimizu glared at her and strode off, motioning for his schoolmate to follow him.

This triggered some sort of fear in the girl. Or both girls at that. Wouldn't a normal male make some indication of being interested in girls, especially when questions and comments like _that_ were being made? They should at least feel proud or embarrassed, normally the former. But the stoic youth had made no hint of either. Maybe, just maybe, he wasn't interested in the female specimen.

The boy abruptly stopped, causing her to walk into his lean physique. She let out a small squeak, but not before inhaling his intoxicating scent. Peering around him, she saw what had induced the sudden stop. A 3-door mirror. And her reflection next to the president's, who was currently plucking off lint from his uniform. She sighed, all the while wondering how long it would take them to complete the task if her upperclassman continued tending to his physical appearance with such precision.

"He always does that. I think he's gay," Meiko loudly proclaimed from the base of the stairs. Ren's knees buckled as she offered a weak smile. Were her suspicions really correct? After all, she _had_ found a hand mirror in his president's desk at school…

**End Chapter**

—

_Nee-san_ – Older sister/female

_Nii-san/Onii-san_ – Older brother/male

Reviews are appreciated,

--Duckii Mustang

Next Chapter: Strawberry Shampoo & Hair Straighteners


	4. Strawberry Shampoo & Hair Straighteners

**Chapter IV – Strawberry Shampoo & Hair Straighteners**

—

The girl seemed composed and calm to anyone who happened to walk into her room, but that was all a farce.

Her hand was shaking as she brought it down to write on her growing list. It appalled her that the president of the student council really _could_ be gay. Could be. She shook her head, purple locks pooling as she laid her head on the desk. She turned her head to the side, positioning it so she could see what she was writing and wrote:

_4. He keeps a hair straightener in his room and buys strawberry scented shampoo._

She bit her lip. Why was it that she was so unhappy at finding out that it was possible that Hayashimizu Atsunobu held no interest for the female population?

—

It had been a week since she had visited Hayashimizu's house and now she was going there again. It appeared that they had not been able to complete the work last time, and the pile at school just kept accumulating. Though for the former, she blamed it on the 3-door mirror wardrobe and her upperclassman's vain antics.

And now she was back in his house, bracing herself for any more signs that indicated her senpai was gay. Though she wasn't sure she could handle it anymore…

"Ren-nee-san! I'm so glad you're here. You know, this is the first time that Nii-san has brought the same girl home twice? Actually, this is the first time he's brought a girl home. He normally brings boys home!" Meiko laughed at the horrified expression on her brother's face. "I think he's just a little angry that we found out his secret," she whispered into Ren's ear, albeit a loud whisper.

"My secret?" It so happened that Meiko's whisper (which was more like a yell) reached Hayashimizu's ears as well.

"Yup!" The little girl stuck out her tongue. "You're gay!" And promptly sent him into a coughing fit. He staggered over to the kitchen and downed a glass of water.

"We're going upstairs. I am not gay."

Ren just smiled slightly, that is, until the disturbed boy took her by the hand and led her up the stars. As she was being pulled into his room she noticed a hair straightener. A Remington hair straightener. And clicked two and two together to come to the conclusion: he straightens his hair. Upon her _great discovery_ she fainted, falling right onto her senpai, almost making them crash onto the floor. But the stunned youth managed to catch her, somewhat thankful that he did, otherwise he wouldn't know what would happen to him (or what he would do) if he suddenly acquired a beautiful girl on top of him.

She was long gone when Meiko climbed the stairs to see what all the commotion was all about and was greeted by the sight of her brother putting the girl on his bed.

"She fainted," was his only explanation. His younger sister didn't bother to contain her laughter. Feeling a headache coming on, he pointed to the door. "Out."

When Meiko left the room he closed the door and kneed by the bedside.

"Is it really true that you think I'm gay?" A somber expression confirmed the seriousness of his tone. "I'm not. At least I don't think I am." During his little confession, his face had been inching towards her pale one and he found himself kissing her lightly on the lips. "I'm not gay," he whispered against her lips.

—

She lay there, motionless, just staring at the wall.

_What happened? Why am I at home? Surely I was at Hayashimizu-senpai's house…_

"Ah, I see you're awake." Her visitor closed the door. "You fainted," he offered after seeing her confused look. "While you were at my house." The boy gently placed the grocery bags in either had down.

A long period of silence ensued… until one of the bags fell and a bottle of strawberry scented shampoo rolled out along with a bottle of moisturiser… and stopped in front of Ren's head.

As she felt herself swaying in and out of consciousness, she prayed silently that her senpai had enough respect for her not to go through the drawers in her desk… where her diary was… where her list of reasons were…

And everything blacked out for Mikihara Ren.

Hayashimizu just sighed.

**End Chapter**

—

Reviews are appreciated,

--Duckii Mustang

Next chapter: Only Real Men Wear Pink


	5. Only Real Men Wear Pink

**Chapter V – Only Real Men Wear Pink**

—

Ren subconsciously fingered the pink ribbon in her hair. Her mind was occupied with only one thing.

_5. His clothes. _

Yes, his clothes. There were some certain clothes that a guy could wear that would immediately categorise him as a homosexual, and Hayashimizu Atsunobu, she noted, happened to have clothes that fit right into that category.

In her frustration, she gave a sharp tug on the silken ribbon.

Beautiful, purple hair cascaded onto the page, framing her list.

—

It was just a normal school day. That is, if you could call a day at school with Sagara Sousuke and his farfetched antics normal. She vividly remembered the chemical substance that he had let out. The effects were absurd. It turned out to be bacteria that ate away petroleum-based products. But the part that she remembered as if it had happened the day before was when the president walked in on her. (Not to mention in all her naked glory. She couldn't look at him in the eye for over two weeks. It wasn't until he approached her and demanded that she talk to him was she able to communicate somewhat more comfortably.)

Now that she thought about it, she had only seen Hayashimizu without his woollen jacket once. And that was during the Sousuke disaster. (Many things, though, had been labelled 'Sousuke disasters' in the student council.)

But there was one fact that stuck out like a gay man surrounded by females. Maybe more like a sore thumb…

The shirt underneath his school shirt was tinged pink. A nice, warm pink.

Surely that was the reason he always kept his woollen jacket on, even during warm summer days. She suppressed the laugh threatening to arise and settle for an amiable smile instead. There was also that incident two days ago…

—

"Ha-Hayashimizu senpai—" Initially Mikihara Ren had intended to gain her upperclassman's attention, but her plan had faltered upon seeing those black, skin-tight leggings. And his shirt… It was a horrible brownish-green colour, with frills and layers. He inclined his head in her direction, but it seemed he had not noticed her. She thanked the gods for that. Her thankfulness was shot down when she noticed _foundation_ on his face. His eyes looked a bit darker around the edges, Ren noticed to her shock and dismay. He wasn't wearing _eyeliner_ or _eye shadow_, was he?

She quietly snuck out of the school, regretting she had forgotten her Japanese exercise book in her locker. She would rather have seen her role model in his school uniform, rather than that… that astounding outfit. It didn't matter quite so much that his school pants _did_ have a nice, prominent crease down the middle of each pant leg.

**End Chapter **

—

This chapter was very short, and a warning, the next one is probably pretty short as well. And just to confirm, I'm pulling half of these reasons out of the air. And guys who wear pink are not necessarily gay, so sorry to all of those who took this as an offense XD

6 more chapters to go!

Review, please?

--Duckii Mustang

Next chapter: The Way He Sits


	6. The Way He Sits

**Chapter VI – The Way He Sits**

—

It was horrifying, Ren realized.

Observing Hayashimizu Atsunobu was.

Well, not necessarily the act of 'observing' him (Ren blushed), but discovering his… _strange _quirks was horrifying.

A delicate, pale hand scribed onto the open page. She knew it was wrong, that her line of argument was not legitimate, but she wrote it down anyway.

_6. He sits with his legs crossed. _

A loud sigh was heard, one which sounded like the owner was tired of life… or had just experienced something very frightening or astounding. In this case, the latter.

—

It was a beautiful, sunny day. The birds were singing their melodious songs, dogs were barking playfully, ducks were quacking and children were splashing around in puddles from the previous night's rain, their happy laughter mingling with the high tunes of the ice-cream van ambling down the street. The blue sky was like a blue blanket hanging from the heavens. Yes, it was a wonderful day.

But Hayashimizu Atsunobu and Mikihara Ren had spent it inside. They had denied a perfectly fine day by choosing to spend in inside! And for what purpose?

"My skin is _sensitive._"

Ren's blood boiled. This… This person had the nerve to call her to his house on the weekend ("Student Council purposes," he claimed) but refused to go outside because his skin was s_ensitive._

And so, the couple sat at the table in the main room of the Hayashimizu house, supposedly discussing "student council" matters.

That is, until the stoic boy turned to her and asked, "Would you like a kiss?"

Ren spluttered and coughed until her eyes looked like they were about to p op out of their sockets. (At which Hayashimizu fondly thought of her as a fish). "What?!"

"A kiss." He stood up (and at this point everything to Ren was like a film playing in slow motion), walked to the kitchen, and picked something out of the pantry and set it in front of her. "Imported from New Zealand – A Hershey chocolate kiss."

Ren deadpanned. Her head violently hit the table with a bang that could make a drummer envious. All she could hear was her senpai's "would you like a kiss". In her blurred line of vision she could see him sitting on the wooden chair, his lips slightly perked up on either side as he watched the girl's astounded reaction. Ren cringed at the sight of his _crossed legs_, but what she saw on his legs made her gag.

She blacked out thinking how cruel her upper classman was… as well as gay.

It didn't help that when she saw him the next day at school he sat with his knees together as if he was a woman wearing a mini-skirt.

**End Chapter **

—

Crappy chapter. Incoherent. And yes. I think this was the worst chapter. No I'm not getting desperate for reasons XD

NB: Guys who cross their legs are not necessarily gay. Just, Hayashimizu looks gay when he crosses his legs! Just so you know…

5 more chapters to go!

Review, please?

--Duckii Mustang

Next chapter: Smooth, Shiny and Shaved


	7. Smooth, Shiny and Shaved

**Chapter VII – Smooth, Shiny and Shaved**

—

Ren spent the whole day at home. It was a remedy the psychiatrist inside of her had prescribed in order to cure shock, but she doubted that she would be cured of her shock anytime soon.

Maybe writing would assist her. After all, they had always told her in school that letting out your feelings was a good way to relieve stress as well as helping you get your thoughts all collected.

So Mikihara Ren got out her ever present diary, flipped to the most recent page and started writing, continuing on from the previous contents on the entry.

_7. He shaves his legs. _

She rubbed at her eyes, wishing that the fact would go away with the closing of her eyes, but to no avail. The image and the fact were burned into her mind. Permanently.

—

The first time she had seen it was on that fine sunny day when birds were singing their melodious songs, dogs were barking playfully, ducks were quacking and children were splashing around in puddles from the previous night's rain, their happy laughter mingling with the high tunes of the ice-cream van ambling down the street.

And that was the day she went to Hayashimizu's house, for "student council matters" (that darned reason seemed to be the reason why she was shocked a lot lately, Ren reflected). It was during that time that he had advertently asked her for a kiss that his legs were crossed, and his pant leg had, unfortunately for Ren, gone up, exposing a nice two whole inches of smooth, shiny and shaved skin.

And as we already know, she fainted.

What we didn't know was that Ren had gone to the convenience store the following day and while walking down the toiletries aisle, she had spotted her senior at the far end. And if she remembered correctly, that was where the men's shaving needs were situated. Thinking that was quite perfectly normal, she turned to leave. Until she realised that his legs seemed exceptionally shiny, as if it were reflecting the convenience store lights.

Suddenly everything fit into place and she understood the very reason why he was at that end of the aisle. Lights + smooth, shiny and shaved legs = light reflecting surface. Which perfectly fit Hayashimizu's legs.

She paid for the items in her shopping basket and hurried out of the store as fast as she could. But not fast enough for Hayashimizu Atsunobu.

"Ah. Mikihara-kun. What are you doing here?" Ren took one look at her senpai's legs (Ren's thoughts: why on earth was he wearing shorts anyway? He never wears shorts, only slacks! He's like a girl who wants to show off her legs by wearing revealing clothes) and bolted, as gracefully as she could, and in the process her shaving cream fell out of her shopping bag.

Hayashimizu picked it up and studied it, a smug smile on his face as he read: strawberry-scented shaving cream.

So, he wasn't the only one who used strawberry-scented shaving cream. But that was something that he was sure she would never find out.

**End Chapter **

—

4 more chapters to go!! Anyone want to help me with maths homework now?

If not, review!

— Duckii Mustang

Next chapter: Creative writing, Copyright Hayashimizu


	8. Creative Writing, Copyright Hayashimizu

**Chapter VIII – Creative Writing, Copyright Hayashimizu**

—

Everything was pointing towards it. There was no doubt that Hayashimizu Atsunobu was gay. Not in this certain purple-head's mind anyway, and she had scribed down all the reasons why that was so.

And today she was up to her 8th reason. Her hand shook slightly as put pen to the page and wrote.

_8. He writes on pink letter paper with penmanship so beautiful it shames a female._

She scrutinised the writing on the piece of paper next to her diary and found that it was a lot prettier than the writing in her own diary. A lot prettier.

—

"Ah, Mikihara-kun, can you please pass me that pen over there? I can't write with a pen this thick." Ren made her way over to the other desk where Hayashimizu was pointing at and picked up the pen he wanted, studying it as she did so.

"0.33mm," she read aloud.

"Yeah, I can't write with anything thicker than 0.5mm." Hayashimizu motioned for her to hurry over. "You see, it just makes my writing look so much nicer when I write with a pen with a thin point." He exchanged the pen in his hand with the pen in her hand, and she could've sworn that it was unnecessary for him to hold her hand in his as he did so.

20 minutes of prolonged silence with curiosity gnawing at her was enough to drive Ren mad. She couldn't stand it. Just what on earth was he writing?

"Um, Hayashimizu-senpai?"

He grunted in response, putting his hand up (of course with awfully feminine gracefulness) to indicate that she continue.

"What are you writing?"

"Nothing. Just a, uh, short story."

Was it just her, or did he seem like he was being secretive about his actions?

"It's not a…" Her eyes glimmered dangerously, and Hayashimizu lifted his head to lock gazes with her as soon as he felt dangerous vibes being emitted. "It's not a love letter, is it?" The usually stoic boy spluttered. "It is, isn't it?!"

Ren quickly got up (also with awfully feminine gracefulness) and peered over his shoulder to take a sneak peek but he quickly regained his composure and covered the piece of paper with his arm.

"Hmph. Not even."

"Then why are you being so secretive about it? You're even using pink letter paper." She pulled the paper out from underneath his arm and didn't even notice when the president's head hit the desk with a loud thump. "This paper looks familiar. I think they sell it in that pink stationery store down the road that all the girls from our school frequent."

"It's Meiko's—" He started, as best as he could despite his mouth being stuck to the desk, but was cut off by the sound of her lovely, velvety voice reading out some not-so-lovely-and-velvety love scene.

"Your eyes sparkle more than any billboard advertisement. Your lips are so red they make me stop like a driver does when he sees a traffic light—" She smothered a giggle behind her pale hand.

"Oh god, no more, _please._" Hayashimizu peeled his lips off the desk and bolted as composedly and manly as he could; leaving the paper that caused all of the commotion in Ren's hand. A smile tugged on the girl's lips, and she tucked the paper inside her breast pocket.

When she got home and read through the accused love letter, she indeed found out that it was only a mere short story. It was probably a romance short story, she concluded. Yet it had the worst and most unromantic scenarios she had ever read, yet the neatest and most beautiful penmanship she had ever seen.

**End Chapter**

—

OKAY. This is in no way meant to be offensive to male authors, and is in no way saying that males aren't allowed to have pretty writing or aren't allowed to write romance stories or write on letter paper. If that's what you concluded from this chapter, that's not the message I'm trying to convey.

And now all that has been said… WOOT! THIS STORY IS ALIVE! And it only has 3 more chapters to go, which I hope to finish by the… uh, first half of this year. Please support me, and keep my morale up by REVIEWING :D

--Duckii Mustang

Next chapter: Beauty Magazines?


	9. Beauty Magazines?

**Chapter IX – Beauty Magazines?**

—

This was already the ninth reason. Did she need any more reasons to justify her suspicion? Well, it was best that she not act rashly. Maybe after one more reason she'd look at it in a different light.

_9. He has at least half a year's worth of beauty magazines neatly stacked up in his school locker._

She glanced at her own meagre pile of magazines, hardly enough to reach 5 centimetres when stacked up. Maybe her suspicion wasn't wrong after all.

—

Hayashimizu and Ren sat in the cool of the Student Council room, basking in the cold breeze coming from their newly installed air conditioner.

"I am so glad we're in here and not out there." Hayashimizu motioned outside to the track and field team practicing for their upcoming competition. Mikihara smiled in agreement and then followed his gaze. A familiar orange bear stood in the centre of the oval, and next to him stood a blue-haired girl barking out orders for him.

Hayashimizu stood up and made his way to the window, giving Ren a sense of déjà vu. This reminded her of when he stood by the window and started analysing the members of the football club and had complimented their physique, which was, in fact, one of her reasons why she thought him homosexual. She waited for something; a comment or a phrase about the track and field club that would serve to be evidence to support her argument but none came. Instead she stood there silently and watched as the student council president walked into the air flow from the air conditioner. His silver hair shook gently from the wind and the serene expression on his face with his eyes closed took her breath away. She had just begun to take notice of his unblemished skin when he turned around and opened one eye.

"Can you go to my locker and get my history textbook? Here's the key." He dug inside his pocket and fished out a bunch of keys, held together by a kitten key ring.

_He must be the type of guy who acts cool and uncaring, but on the inside he's probably just a softie at heart who loves kittens, _Ren thought. Aloud, she said, "Are you sure you don't want to get it yourself?"

"Mm. I'm sure. It's situated in the science corridor, number 38. Thank you, Mikihara-kun." He returned to his table and rested his head atop the desk. Ren held the keys in her hand, glanced at the kitten key ring and then at its owner. A small smile graced her face as she likened him to a kitten curled up on the balcony on a warm day. She quickly hurried out of the room, feeling her heart skip a beat and her cheeks warm up considerably.

It didn't take long for her to find his locker. A right turn and then a left turn and up a flight of stairs got her to the correct corridor where his locker was situated. She found number 38 and opened it, not in the least surprised by the cleanliness of the inside. Now that she thought about it, it bore a resemblance to his room. Bare walls and books neatly stacked, and a mirror. She sifted through the stack to find the history textbook and found a beauty magazine instead. The next book was also a magazine, and the one underneath that. In fact, all of the books till the bottom of the locker were beauty magazines. Well, except for the book on the very bottom which happened to be the very book she was looking for. She rubbed her eyes in disbelief. His locker was full of just beauty magazines? She was positive that there was at least half a year's worth in there.

It took her about 10 minutes to get Hayashimizu's history textbook out. Now she understood why he didn't want to get it. It was because anyone who tried to get anything out from underneath the stack of magazines would be victim to all the books falling on top of them, and then they had to clean up afterwards. She scowled.

Her hard feelings for her upperclassman disappeared as she returned with the history textbook and keys in hand to see him asleep at his desk. His glasses lay in front of him and his tousled hair framed his face.

She couldn't help but think that his perfect skin was due to the beauty magazines in his locker.

**End Chapter**

—

TWO MORE CHAPTERS TO GO YEAHHH.

Review please?

--Duckii Mustang

Next chapter: His fan.


	10. His fan

**Chapter X – His Fan**

—

It was the last reason. The last reason that ended Mikihara Ren's list, _10 Reasons Why Hayashimizu Atsunobu is Gay._

_10. His fan has the kanji character for men on it._

Honestly, what male uses a fan that has the character for men on it? She couldn't comprehend what was going on in her senpai's mind, and decided it was about time that she asked him whether he was gay or not.

Although she had almost totally convinced herself that he was, well, homosexual, she couldn't rid herself of the sweet fact that stayed close to her heart. _He had definitely taken her home that day she fainted at his house. _That could have been out of courtesy, but she liked to think otherwise.

—

During another one of their quiet afternoons in the Student Council room, Ren gathered all her courage and set out to ask the question that had been dwelling on her mind for the past—heck, she didn't even know how long she had been pondering upon her senpai's sexual preference. She hastily made her way to the whiteboard where the president of the Student Council was writing notes.

"Hayashimizu-senpai—" Her squeaky voice was muffled as he turned around and her lips roughly met his broad shoulder.

"Oops, are you okay, Mikihara-kun?" He put his index finger beneath her chin and tilted her head up. "Your lips—" She pushed him away, unsure of what the flip-flops her stomach was doing meant. All she knew was that her face was heating up, and that his grey eyes were still fixed on her lips. No, she couldn't let herself be distracted by something like this. She closed her eyes and blurted it out.

"Hayashimizu-senpai, a-are you gay?" He spluttered and a shower of saliva graced her pretty face. Unamused, she opened on eye and wiped away the offending liquid with her handkerchief. Surely a reaction like this meant that her accusation was correct though.

"No." He cleared his throat to get rid of the uncertainty in his voice. "No, I am not… g-ga—" He paused, searching for a more sophisticated word. "I am not homosexual."

Ren promptly forgot about all formalities and started overflowing with questions she had been longing to ask.

"Then why do you know so much about the male body and always _study _our football players?"

Hayashimizu sighed and made his way to his desk and sat down, ready for a tiring conversation. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, not noticing the glint that reflected off his lens that gave him an eerie look. The purple-haired girl shuddered. "Haven't I ever told you that my father is a sports physiotherapist?" She shook her head. "He's always telling me things when he comes home ever since I was a child, so I know a lot in that area."

"What about your organiser? You have everything planned out, even your toilet breaks!"

He felt his left eye twitch. "Is there anything wrong with that?"

"N-no, but surely normal guys don't do that."

"Mikihara-kun. I am perfectly sure that males are allowed to be neat and organised if they wish." He rubbed his temples, feeling a slight headache coming on. "Besides, I am studying to get into Tokyo University so I have a study timetable that includes my toilet breaks."

Ren grabbed a chair from a nearby desk and put in front of Hayashimizu's desk so that she sat right in front of him.

"You're also quite vain…," her voice trailed off into a whisper.

"What was that?" Now he felt a vein throbbing on his forehead.

"N-nothing. I, I just meant that, well, you know, since you have a 3 door mirror wardrobe and that hand mirror in your drawer—"

"Oh that." Hayashimizu cut her off before she could even finish her sentence. "The hand mirror in my drawer belongs to Chidori-kun. She left it here last time she and Sagara were in this room and I have not yet had a chance to return it to her."

"And the 3 door mirror wardrobe…?"

"That couldn't be helped. The only other bedroom in the house was Meiko's room and the guest room downstairs. Meiko wouldn't give up her room for anything, and I was not allowed to stay in the guest room. So that left me with the room with the 3 door mirror wardrobe."

Ren wondered if she should continue asking. But she had made it this far and it would be a waste to not take advantage of this opportunity, so she plunged on.

"The hair straightener—"

"Meiko's. My hair is naturally straight." He emphasised this with a flick of his hair.

"—and strawberry scented shampoo and moisturiser when you went shopping—"

"Family's preference."

Ren frowned. He had refuted nearly half of her reasons. Ah, well, there were still 6 more to go. Surely he wouldn't be able to explain all of those to her. Like his clothing.

"How come you wear a pink shirt underneath your school uniform?"

"I wear a pink shirt underneath my school uniform?" The boy made a show of unbuttoning the first few buttons of his shirt to check what shirt he was wearing underneath.

"N-no, not that one!" The purple-haired girl panicked. She hadn't expected him to do something like that, and as a result her face was now a bright red.

"When have I worn a pink shirt underneath my school uniform?"

"That day when Sagara-kun—" Hayashimizu coughed. If Ren hadn't bowed her head to avoid looking at Hayashimizu she would have noticed that he too was embarrassed.

"That shirt, huh~ Oh! I know what one you're talking about. That shirt got washed with the red clothing, so some of the red dyes seemed to have seeped into my white shirt. I never wear it any more."

"But there was that day that you were wearing tights and a horrible brownish-green… _article of clothing_."_ Not to mention eyeliner or eyeshadow, _she silently added.

Hayashimizu made a barfing noise.

"That disgusting, terrible, frilly, regurgitatingly ugly article of clothing was entirely the drama teacher's fault. If we weren't required to wear that attire for our medieval play, I wouldn't be caught wearing that anywhere." Ren breathed a sigh of relief. That meant that he didn't take a fancy to those kinds of clothes.

"I still think you might be gay."

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow questioningly.

She put out her hand and started counting reasons off her fingers. "You sit with your legs crossed; you shave your legs—"

"WAIT. Hold on. What's wrong with sitting with your legs crossed? Many males do that."

"Hmph. Well that still doesn't change that fact that you shave your legs."

_How on earth does she know that I shave my legs, _Hayashimizu found himself wondering. But in order to clear this misunderstanding, he'd have to explain to her why he shaved his legs. "I swim."

"So what if you swim? Issei-kun swims and he doesn't shave his legs!"

Hayashimizu scowled. "I swim competitively. In fact, I'm already up to state level." A tinge of pride laced his voice.

"…and?"

"And shaving your legs means that you can swim faster because there's no friction."

Ren shrugged. Well, she didn't quite get it but it sounded technical enough, so that reason was invalid.

"You do know that you cannot write romance stories at all, right?" She looked at him in the eye and he found himself shrinking under her gaze. "But what really strikes me is that your writing is so beautiful. Even more so than mine."

"My mother taught me how to write. And as for that… that short story that you brutally stole from me," _as well as my pride_, he added silently, "that was for my writing class."

"The pink paper—"

"—was really Meiko's," he finished.

"Then how about yesterday when you asked me to get your history textbook from your locker?"

"What about yesterday?" He shifted around his seat, remembering that he had fallen asleep by the time she had returned.

"Those beauty magazines?"

"What about the beauty magazines?"

"Well, why do you have them? Clearly, they're beauty magazines for women."

He laughed. It was actually kind of fun to see her get riled up about something, even if it was at his expense. She was always so gentle and calm and mild and now this side of her he had never seen before was getting him all excited.

"Well?"

"They're my mother's. I pick them up twice a week before school at the bookstore just around the corner for her. She's currently on a business trip so I just keep them in my locker."

Ren looked unsatisfied with his answer, but there was nothing he could do about it. After all, it was the truth he was telling. She fidgeted a little, and he supposed she had run out of accusations.

"You haven't told me why you have men written on your fan."

Or not.

"That's a secret, Mikihara-kun." He leaned forward and pressed his index finger to her lips and smirked. She sat still, dumbfounded by the current turn of events. "But I'll have you know, I'm not homosexual." He looked uneasy, as if he were debating whether to say more. She watched his Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed.

"I-I'm not homosexual because I'm in love with the girl in the same room as me." He quickly stood up, nearly tripping over the chair legs in his rush and left the room.

"…he's in love with me?" Ren touched her lips where Hayashimizu had touched them just less than a minute ago. She thought back to her list of reasons of why she had thought he was homosexual and realised that he still hadn't told her why men was written on his fan. _Ah, well, 9 out of 10 isn't that bad_, she thought as a smile tugged on the corners of her lips.

**End Chapter**

—

IT'S FINISHED?! No, it's actually not. There's one more chapter to satisfy the Hayashimizu x Ren fangirl inside of me, but the list of reasons of why Hayashimizu Atsunobu is gay is completed! I know some of the explanations were a little farfetched, but oh well. It's fanfiction.

Well, please look forward to the last chapter.

Review?

--Duckii Mustang

Last chapter: Kissable Lips


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